Kay-check out her blog on the Observer-some of your qiestions are answered

She does not have a car

She did stockpile some items in advance

I'm quite in awe.

I did a  "buy nothing new" for Lent one year and it was tough.

I haven't looking into this particular case, but in general I'm not really a fan of these things.  What's the point?

I like having a currency system, it simplifies things compared to bartering.

We have needs.  What's wrong with buying things to help meet those needs?

Ditto for wants.

I would prefer to hear about someone who is working on reducing waste rather than not buying anything, personally.

Having been broke has taught me how to live buying very little. I do fall into the comfort trap when I have more money and end up accumulating too many bottles and packages of stuff- but it's not necessary. If I run out of something and can't buy more, I think of something to use instead because I had to. I've rubbed a bar of soap on a dishcloth to wash dishes before. It works (yes I know you might not want to eat at my place). It's not the most disinfectant way but we survived just fine. You could put a few drops of bleach into the water. I use dishcloths wet down with soapy water on the Swiffer, to mop the floor, and rinse them out. Sometimes I will spray the floor with household cleaner and mop with the wet rag. It works. Dish soap and water cleans glass and mirrors. So does vinegar and water. Baking soda cleans the bathtub. You can hand wash clothes with a bar of soap if you have to. It's less convenient but you do what you have to do. People in many parts of the world have to. You have to get creative when you don't have a lot.

We should look up tips from the late 19th/ early 20th century- even earlier- remember how they did things. Good survival skill. They weren't inundated with advertising and buying nearly as many products then.

I've probably gone for several months in the past buying nothing but food... It did require that I had accummulated some things before hand. I didn't do it on purpose I had no choice. It would be cool if we went back to the days when we could ask a neighbour- can I borrow a cup of detergent? And give them some tea bags, etc. Between everyone in my apartment building there are probably enough products to keep everyone going for years- but we don't think that way. We hardly know each other. That's what's going missing in our society which is necessary in places that just don't have money. They share what they have.

The Hippie Generation of baby boomers almost had it...almost. But then what happened?

The Hippie Generation of baby boomers almost had it...almost. But then what happened?

Want to save a pile of money???

Go to Canadian Tire and buy a Food Saver on sale for $70. You will save thousands on food. Really.

Have a dirt floor ... bottom lime when it gets dirty sweep it out ....

Thus the story of the fall of star dust from heaven ... a clean out for those that didn't wish to know that dirt! Almost gnoestic in tradition of rejection ... or shunning if you wile ...

I've laughed at the young people promoting the 'reduce, reuse, recycle' idea as though it was something new.  It's how I grew up.  

Buttons cut off worn clothes and saved in a button-can  (to be used whenever a lost button needed replacing or a new garment was made - but also served as a toy: markers or chips for table games, sorting and counting for little kids, pretend money for playing store)

Rags (worn clothes) used for cleaning (no paper towels)

Eaton's catelogue in the outhouse

Handkerchiefs rather than tissues

Newspapers passed from one household to another - and then used for starting the fire in the kitchen stove

Books treasured and passed down - school text books covered with brown paper to help them last longer)

Paper bags folded neatly until needed.  A ball of string for the same reason.

Nuts, bolts, nails - saved from old boards that then became firewood.

Children sent out into the woods to pick wild berries for pies and puddings, and preserving for winter  (child labour?)

Clothes passed from one child to the next - siblings, cousins, neighbours - until they couldn't be patched or altered any more.

Scraps of cloth saved for quilting - worn wool sweaters, socks, etc. saved and sent to a factory to be made into warm wool blankets for a much reduced price.

And we ate our leftovers - so did our pets.

Yup. I grew up with one foot in that door and the other in the one called "consumerism'. My mom used to be really resourceful like that because that's how she was taught, "waste not want not". I picked up some skills from her.

I tore up an old sheet into rags not long ago.

I'm laughing at myself right now, at how much of consumer I have become in some ways but it's not really funny. I bought a swiffer a while back, when we moved into this place, instead of a mop and now just use rags or reusable cloths on it- but there was nothing wrong with a mop- got sucked into that one. Likewise, the surface area of the tile floor is not that big and we can (and have done) get on our hands and knees and wash the floor. But the Swiffer works well for the higher part of the windows.

I didn't get the impression that Lee Simpson had 'economising' in mind when she started he year of buying nothing but food  - not that there is anything at all wrong with economising. 

Maybe I am struggling a bit with 'how should I decide where to draw the line'?  She apparently, doesn't think that paying for water and electricity are 'buying'.  I think it is buying - but a necessary purchase where I live.    Once I lived elsewhere without water, witout gas but with electricity.  That experience taught me how much water I was accustomed to wasteing, and still reminds me to turn off taps and be mindful about laundry etc. !

Maybe part of the struggle is defining a 'want' and a 'need'.  I accept that I need food - but not necessarily expensive food that causes planetary depletion.  I want a holiday but not necessarily one that includes lots of driving and a stay at an expensive resort.  Others may decide they 'deserve' or are 'entitled' to expensive foods and luxury holidays.  No easy answers here I think.

kay - While I believe that our parents. who came through the depression, were economizing, they also made a very small footprint on the environment.  Almost nothing went to the dump - and if anything useful was discarded it was carefully set to the side so that someone else might claim it.  We used very little; we discarded very little.   Even now, when I can occasionally afford to treat myself to a restaurant meal, I can't stand waste.  If I can't finish my 'ribs' or 'steak' it goes into a doggie-bag for tomorrow's lunch.

Reusing absolutely.  How common was recycling then?  I don't even think reducing was that common, if you could get something else for free and find a use for it you probably would have.

If you think of recycling as a truck picking up paper, glass and plastic and taking it away to make more paper, or glass or plastic items - no we didn't do that.

But we recycled.  Paper - newspaper was passed from family to family and then reused - mainly to start fires, but also to wash windows, line the dog's bed, or occasionally in the outhouse.   At school we used both sides of the paper.  Grocery lists or notes were written on scraps of paper - no fancy note pads.

Glass - jars were reused for perserving berries and jams.

Plastic - we seldom bought anything made of plastic.

Cans - reused to hold nails, screws and other small items in the shed.  Worms for fishing.  Soil for starting tomato plants.  Large cans could have a wire handle attached and be hung on maple trees to catch sap, or used to gather berries.  

Yea - we recycled.  

Nowdays just about everything is made with plastic. I think it would be next to impossible to elimate plastic items.

Lee is also watching the food she buys.Nothing preparedie crackers, cereal etc.

Here's a guide to cutting down on plastic. I have done a few of these things but I think it would be hard to do the whole list. A lot of it, though, involves using reusable items to cut down on plastic (which would also cut down on shopping).
http://plasticfreeguide.com/

Thus God's dark side recycles the knowledgable chit that man discards ...

Comes back at yah as new minds in wee bodies ... failures if not taught about all-things ...

Erasmus had difficulty with the church on this topic ... almost lost his head over it, as questioning anything or everything is a mortal sin.

Today all we are persuaded with in "assertive desires" (avarice?) and then can't figure out the cause of bullying as a social disorder caused by micro alteration of valid conservatism ... as such will it all come back at yah as you you leave this stage of gammos? It has too be a dark abstract stage considering how little we know of the infinite unknown ... next to nothing ... and many powerful people do not believe in nothing nor infinite thus creating a real spectacle of God as ethereal and humbly out there in metaphorical terms ... might as well believe in such Binary Codes of divinable nature ... as people baseline believe that emotions and intellect are possessed by humans ... when such gatherings may be human error and still reamin sort of "out-there"!

Could a human social order become collective with all the hate for unknowns? Thus gammos was defined as an irrationale reason for temporal being ... a narrative experience to pass through? Gotta admit it is a rough ride through things hard to understand ... like consequence of hate ... when mortals cannot even agree on stray evidence as consequenchal if they believe nothing has consequences ...

It is something you can fall into and become nothing but thought ... if not adequately cared for ... like abyssimal emotions! Thus round IÐ goes again and we don't know what the vegetative chit will come ups as ... another ß-Rome-IDe? What's a bromide, but a Classic Alchemii that naieve type should take notice of?

That's not Nai-Eve ... but a wholly consuming spirit of unknown nature, presenting the hairy scheme of life for purposes not easily discerned by people of blind and blinding emotions ... bigod's I see a metaphor as the carpenter in me sawsaway hommoe ... saas in nauch? Sometimes known as Bigfoot as the collective footprint of overpopulation is evalued ... sometimes those that are sensitive can feel soemthing odd prevailing! Omi-Nous? Whereas "omi" has one meaning and Nous/Nus a Classic or ancient understanding ... very just so people won't know what I'm thinking ... so I can't be accused of Roman Sin ... intelligence and wisdom as bis partisan!

Did Romans hate bipartisan hill thinking? Perhaps an Icon for something else as the hill cast out ... fishing for places to hide bits of the Shadow ... knowing portions, sects or parts?

Things that could later collapse into themselves ... the S' elf being a myth ... a spot beyond us, like period at the end of a statement? Did the Para-graphics go on? LOGOS is funny that way ... in Hebrew it is continuous ... and the unravelling is constant ... like well-Planct'd ... a peculiar number compared to 144,000 especially if you considere outside perspectives of the factorial view like X! The unknown multiplied by itself in decreasing order! I could go on and on about things not generally known by specific peoples ... specialists of great authority?

Seeler, the 3 Rs typically refer to 3 different things.  You reused, but recycling means creating new material:

In the strictest sense, recycling of a material would produce a fresh supply of the same material—for example, used office paper would be converted into new office paper, or used foamed polystyrene into new polystyrene. However, this is often difficult or too expensive (compared with producing the same product from raw materials or other sources), so "recycling" of many products or materials involves their reuse in producing different materials (e.g., paperboard) instead.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recycling

No, it doesn't have to involve a truck.  I know some people who make their own new paper.

I actually think these three words (reduce, reuse, and recycle) are put in this order for a purpose.  It is preferable to reduce than to reuse; and preferable to reuse than recycle.    So not buying an item in the first place is the prefered method of cutting back on your enviromental footprint, saving money, and not supporting a consumer culture.  That was the first thing my parents practiced - they didn't buy anything if they could get along without it.  

Reuse or recycle - how many times do you reuse an item before you recycle it?  Is newspaper torn up to pack china reusing or recycling?  or newspaper made into a paper-mache pinata?    Are scraps of cloth left over from making a dress, cut into squares to make a quilt being reused or recycled?  

I've received hand-made greeting cards on hand-made paper, and I've helped Sunday School children make a sheet of paper.  It's a fairly involved process to make a small supply of rough paper.   The main use of paper I have in my home is my computer.  I do save paper by printing on both sides, or keeping a stack of 'good one side only' paper.   But I guess I don't recycle in my home - it goes out to curbside to be picked up by the recycle truck.    

Your article admits that recycling (by their definition) is too often too difficult and/or expensive to do, even on a commercial scale.   I'll settle for reuse - for the same purpose or adapted for another purpose.

Seeler, I agree.  I think that the 3rd R is newer though, that's all what I disagreed with - as well as reducing with intent regarding waste.  Back then, I don't think reducing was necessary though, you would probably take a disposable bag and make use of it and companies weren't avoiding all the plastic packaging for the environment, it just wasn't available or as cheap then!

In terms of reducing paper use one of the nicest things I'm seeing is duplexors in low cost (sub-$300) laser printers. The Hewlett-Packard Laserjet P1606dn is the one we use as a standard desktop printer at work and can often be found on sale for c. $200. The duplexor automates printing on both sides. Our home printer (a higher end one that was, I think, around $350-400) has one and we just set double-siding as the default mode. Means you can cut your paper use by half without the hassle of putting each sheet back through manually.

Another is putting my various bills and statements on estatement. I get emailed an email notice when a statement is ready and only print what I need (which for many of them is none, I just check the PDF to make sure everything looks right without ever putting it on paper). For the ones I do print, I can often get away with only 1 or 2 pages (a single sheet since I double side everything) and the envelopes, inserts, etc. are, of course, eliminated as well.

Mendalla

One thing that kind of bugs me is...the onus is on the consumer, mainly, to reduce our footprint- but not on the producers of all the wasteful and pollutant products to stop making them. Often, the cheapest options are the processed foods, the plastic bottles, etc. so that is what people buy. There is no expectation of producers to "reduce, reuse, and recycle" with their production. And, the way the economy works is that a GDP- the higher the market value of goods and services produced the 'wealthier' a nation is. So, if they put more units of labour (as many processing 'steps' as possible because each step represents units of GDP?) into processing and cranking out as many cheap unhealthy options as possible, the higher the GDP? I don't understand it well but I do know that "Reduce" is not a word that falls into the free market lexicon- it's our responsibility to reduce but in many ways is an exercise in futility because they will produce as much as they can, somewhere in the world, whether we buy it or not- it still exists and ends up somewhere even if it's not purchased. If they pump out a wasteful toxic product and it doesn't sell- where does it go? It still pollutes. If it doesn't sell someone will try again and crank out some more products we don't need and whether they end up in our homes or on the clearance shelf and into a landfill, they're still wasteful. Nobody's making new plastic production illegal.

If there was a ban on new plastics- that would reduce the need for petroleum- and, well...that's not happening. If new plastics were banned, there is more than enough existing plastic in the world to create alternate industries based on recycling and maybe find a way to clean up the massive garbage patch twice the size of Texas that's floating in the ocean? But human dependence on oil/ petroleum industry that fuels cars, plastics....and wars...keeps us stuck from moving forward even if a minority practice sensible lifestyle modifications. For the majority to do it, it's availability would need to be reduced and that's not happening either because that threatens GDP. And that kinda bugs me. Makes me feel helpless to do anything about it.

What are Food Savers and how do they work to save money??

See below. It allows you to save and preserve food (ie. leftovers) longer. So it claims. I have no experience.

http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/foodsaver-174-vacuum-sealing-system-v2...

Mendalla

Or you could just eat the same thing two or three days in a row.

It's a vac sealer. You can watch for deals on meat. then when it is cheap, buy big packs and repackage in small portions that stay fresh for a long time and never get freezer burn. I try to get chicken around 4.40/kg. Pork around 1 to 6.50/kg. Beef ranges more. Prime rib can go for over 24/kg. I usually buy some at 14/kg and I will buy all I can fit in when it gets down to $11. I would never spend that much on chicken.

Breakfast sausage can be frozen in packs of six or whatever is right for you. Way less waste.

I pack in 2 person portions mostly and a few singles or threes. As soon as you know how many will be around for supper - pull out the required servings and throw in a cold sink of water, and it will be thawed and ready to cook in 45 min to 1 1/2 hours.

You can buy a big block of cheese for less than $1/100g.  Repackage to week size packs and no mold forms on unopened packs.

If I have left over roast, I can grind for sandwiches and freeze for later, or just Call it beef for soup.

Superstore has some meat packs marked down 30% first thing in morning, but that does not always make it a sceamin' deal.

Do you live in a 2 person household SnP? What would you recommend for people living in an apartment with an apartment fridge/ freezer (slightly smaller than standard)? We usually just buy what we need daily except for some staples and use up as we go. We don't have a lot of space for big cooking (apartment size oven/ stove too) or counter and cupboard space for lots of appliances. Our food waste is with spoiled vegetables mostly. Meat doesn't go to waste because we eat what we buy that week and if not there's only a small amount to freeze. We could buy bulk packs and freeze half, but usually don't. We have less variety because of eating what we buy a few days in a row but at least we eat.

Kimmio has hit a vital nail squarely on its head, I think.  In order for the wastage to stop the government has to act.  Extra tariffs on over packaged items.  Extra producer costs for using plastic when glass would work as well.  Bring employment back to smaller centres and let them run a dairy to process the local milk.  Give people jobs at recycling plants.  Pay people at a high enough rate that gives them the means to eat healthier foods.

Just a daydream!

Duplicate/ amended post below

Healthier foods shouldn't cost more in the first place. Simple, from the field to the table food should not cost more than food that has processing, sugar, and chemicals involved in all it's ingredients- but one has an impact on GDP (think of all the GDP growth the rise in diabetes causes for drug companies- food related health problems create business opportuity) whereas the cottage industry's/ simple way's impact is negligible on overall GDP, which is the measure of a country's economy, which is a measure of it's 'strength' in the world.

Another thing is crappy quality of items...take electronics. Many are designed to last just past the time the warranty expires (which they often charge extra money at point of sale for). Often the cost of repair is higher than the cost of a new one- or they've changed one tiny feature that makes it incompatible for use with some other component (iPod/ ipone docks and the shape of the outlet for example). It's so greedy and wasteful but there is nothing stopping them.

Sounds like something that a person who lives alone could benfit from. I hate eating the same meal 3 or 4 times in row. And I usually throw some out. (i am gald my Grandmother is no longer around to hear me admit that I sometimes throw out food.

Sounds like something that a person who lives alone could benfit from. I hate eating the same meal 3 or 4 times in row. And I usually throw some out. (i am gald my Grandmother is no longer around to hear me admit that I sometimes throw out food.

I see that there are several types of models. 2 on sale now at Canadian Tire.  Are there any apreciable difference between the more expensive ones and the cheapers ones,  other than size.

I also see that you need to buy refills. Does the ammount you save in food, pay for the refill bags?

Does anyone else use them? Are they easy to use?

I don't like eating the exact same meal too many times in a row either. I try to use the same stuff in different combinations. We might benefit from a food saver, or not, depending on how much time and space it takes up (and it uses non-recyclable plastic it looks like). You could just freeze food in Tupperware and reheat it a week later.

The cheapest one works fine. The most expensive one wastes about an inch of bag on every seal, but I guess it may be easier to use. Cheapest refills at Costco. I don't leave it on the counter, but just pull it out when I get home from shopping.

If I go to buy milk, I still go through the meat section and cereal isle. I only buy cereal under 7/kg. so often the only thing available is raisin bran, but then sometimes other cereal will go down to 2/ kg and I load up.

20 lb of potatoes is usually only $1 more than 10 lb.

I think tomorrow will be last day of food saver sale. But almost everything at Cdn Tire goes on sale a few times a year. Getting $50 off on the food saver if you are getting one, will put a lot of portions of chicken in the freezer.

90 % of our home furnishings are from garage sales or auctions. We don't need anything, but like finding deals. On Saturday I bought something at a G sale for $40, took it home, listed it on kijiji for $275 and had $250 in my hand in less than 2 hrs.

We went out for $150 dinner. I also bought another item for $15 that I could sell for $100 to $150.

It is fun looking for things you know something about. I bought a new in box bbq in Vernon and had my brother in law pick it up. Next time I go to Vernon I will bring it home and sell for $300 profit. It was listed on kijiji and the guy had improperly labeled it. He had won it and it was of no interest to him.

Hi Kimmio,

I suspect you spend at least double what I spend/meal. You need a small freezer. newer model, as they don't use much electricity. I may only buy meat once in a month, but I check the prices every time I am there or the fliers. When superstore has $25 card if you spend $250, I will spend $250. All on sale items that I know we will use. Once you have a cushion built up, about the only thing you have to buy at regular price is milk. And milk is always $1 more at Safeways than Superstore.

We are 2 with 3 adult children who are around pretty often, usually weekends, and I like to bbq for friends and family.

Kimmio, you've said before you don't shop at stores like Superstore and Costco.  I don't think a food saver would be of much use.  You also still need the freezer space.  My parents use theirs a fair bit.  Chemguy got one for Christmas and he returned it, because he figured he wouldn't use it much.  We usually just use ziplock bags for meat we freeze.

In the town of Cateura, outside the capital of the impoverished, landlocked country of Paraguay, residents lives are defined by trash. The Cateura Dump, along the Paraguay River, is the dumping site for more than 1,500 tons of solid waste each day. Around 2,500 families live around the dump. Most of them subside on the small amount of money they make by harvesting garbage and selling it to the recycling industry, which pays them 10 cents for a pound of plastic and 5 cents for a pound of cardboard.

The community is regarded as one of the poorest slums in Latin America.

But amongst the garbage and grief, the human spirit prevails. Borne from the trash and the resourceful, ingenious minds of its residents, the village has spawned the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura. Fashioned from oil cans, drain pipes, and other assorted cast-offs, an orchestra of musical instruments has been crafted, giving the children of this bleak place a glimmer of hope and bringing music to a town once filled with little but despair.

You can read more about Cateura in our story "When art is garbage."

Watch the recent report from "60 Minutes" on the rags-to-riches story:

Here is a video from 60 Minutes:

I am thinking of getting the hand held foodsaver which is avaialble for 20 dollars. It works with reusable bags and containers, that may be used in the fridge but not the freezer. I do not shop at costco and I do not have a freezer. Howevr if the bags will keep my vegies  cheese and small portions of meat and walnuts fresher it may pay for itself in a couple of months.

Here is a link to the blog that inspired the topic of this thread

http://www.ucobserver.org/blogs/ybn/

Definately worth a read!

Thanks Tabitha.  I took a look at the first post on the page.  I find it interesting that prescription medications are listed as an exception, and not just medication.  Why does it matter if it's prescription or not?  Doctors have told me to use OTC stuff too.

What would the author had done with a diagnosis like mine?  Used up the bandaids, then what?  I had my 'to go' kit in a shoe box for less than a week, but I bought an insulated lunch bag.  I could have done with the shoe box for a little longer, although the risk of dropping things is higher.  In the summer a shoe box won't have enough insulation.  I had a small ice pack already, if I didn't I would have bought one, although I suppose there are other things on hand that could have gone into the freezer.  I bought straws so that I can drink as needed (to help combat the dizziness) without having to go back, wash my hands, and repeat sterilizing the site I'm going to use, as that would create more waste (although of stuff I don't pay for) than just buying the straws.  I was supplied with a self release tourniquet, but what would the author do if something like that broke and she couldn't be supplied with a new one in time?